Badugi

Four cards and three draws. You want four low cards that are all different suits and all different ranks.

Ace of clubs
Two of diamonds
Three of hearts
Four of spades

Your cards: 4, face down
Shared cards: None
Betting: Fixed limit
Who wins: Best badugi
In the mix: Bigger mixes

How a hand goes

A button and two blinds, then four cards each, face down. There are three draws and four rounds of betting: bet, draw, bet, draw, bet, draw, bet. Small bets in the first two rounds, big bets in the last two. After the first draw, the small blind acts first.

Before the draw

Ace of clubs
Four of clubs, does not play
Seven of hearts
King of diamonds, does not play

After the draw

Ace of clubs
Two of spades, plays
Seven of hearts
Five of diamonds, plays

Thrown away
New card

The ace and four are both clubs, so only one can count, and the king is too high. Swap them both and you have a badugi: 7-5-2-A.

What makes a badugi

The best hand

Ace of clubs
Two of diamonds
Three of hearts
Four of spades

Four cards, four different suits, four different ranks, all low. Aces are low and straights do not matter, so A-2-3-4 of four suits is perfect.

Clashing suits: If two cards share a suit, only the lower one counts.
Clashing ranks: If two cards share a rank, only one of them counts.
Four beats three: Any four-card badugi beats any three-card hand, and any three-card hand beats any two-card hand.
Then low wins: Between hands with the same number of cards, compare the highest card first.

1
Four-card badugi
The best hand.
- Ace of clubs
- Two of diamonds
- Three of hearts
- Four of spades
2
Four-card badugi
King high, but still four cards, so it beats every three-card hand.
- King of clubs
- Queen of diamonds
- Nine of hearts
- Eight of spades
3
Three-card hand
The 4 and 5 are both diamonds. The 5 does not count, leaving 4-3-2.
- Two of clubs
- Three of hearts
- Four of diamonds
- Five of diamonds, does not play
4
Two-card hand
Two clubs and two hearts: only the ace and the 3 count.
- Ace of clubs
- Two of clubs, does not play
- Three of hearts
- Four of hearts, does not play

Who wins

Uma
- Eight of clubs
- Five of diamonds
- Three of hearts
- Ace of spades
8-5-3-A badugi
Wins the pot
Vic
- Eight of diamonds
- Six of hearts
- Two of spades
- Ace of clubs
8-6-2-A badugi

Both have a four-card badugi with an 8 on top. Next card down: Uma’s 5 beats Vic’s 6.